Kawaki Academy Arc: The Tea Party
Episode 2 of the arc was exactly the sort of mindless fluff you would expect from a tea party episode.
So Himawari knows there's a secret mission and is gunning hard for that sidekick position. But Kawaki tells her to get her own mission and buzz off.
The female bully, Osuka, brags about how her fancy lunch is SO MUCH BETTER than the princess's dainty bento. Osuka then yells at her minion for getting her the wrong kind of tea.
The girl minion's name is Neon, a name that should have gone to a much cooler character. Neon's parents also work for the Kaminarimon company, so she's basically a female Denki.
Princess Kae sneaks off to the roof again to hork down a hoagie. Kawaki points out that maybe she has an unhealthy relationships with food, but Kae insists that as princess, she can't be seen eating anything that comes in a plastic wrapper. Her reputation would be utterly destroyed.
Kae then informs him that she's going to make friends by inviting everyone over for a tea party. Osuka was also planning a party that weekend, so she's furious when Kae beats her to the punch.
We see Kae painstakingly preparing a cake while talking to her dead mother's photograph. Her mother also threw tea parties, and Kae's party is going to be the closure she needs for her unresolved grief. Because of course it can't JUST be a tea party - it has to be therapy too.
Himawari and Kawaki go through a quick "I'll make a gentleman out of you" session, and then it's time for the party. Kawaki panics and can't stop talking about taiyaki, which makes everyone realize that even though he looks scary, he's actually a huge softy.
Then the cake comes out. Kawaki smells something off with the cake and immediately concludes it is poisoned. Instead of saying "hey, something's wrong with this cake," he scrambles across the tables like a feral cat and bats the cake out of Princess Kae's hands.
Everyone rightfully asks him what the hell he's doing, but Kawaki doesn't want to scare everyone by saying it was an assassination attempt, so he runs away with zero explanation. Himawari follows him, and after hearing his side of the story, helps him investigate.
They realize the weird-smelling yellow stuff in the cake isn't poison - it's spicy mustard. How the hell the mustard got INSIDE the cake after it was iced is anyone's guess. The two detectives immediately decide Osuka is behind the prank, because let's face it:
No one who laughs like this can be innocent. Osuka is having the time of her life, scolding Kae for failing at the tea party and declaring this an international incident. Neon looks suspiciously guilty and slips off.
She confesses to Kawaki that she and Osuka "poisoned" the cake. Apparently she used a drone to slip in through a window with a bottle of mustard. I'm still not sure how the drone injected the mustard into the cake without disturbing the icing. That's bothering me a lot.
Kawaki and Himawari reveal the crime to everyone in the party. Kae yells at Osuka, not for ruining her party, but for being a bad friend to Neon. Somehow Neon gets off scott-free because everyone knows she's a wimp who can't stand up for herself.
Osuka cries, and Kae realizes she has broken Princess Code by showing negative emotion. But the other students all praise her, saying she's much more likable when she has flaws.
Yes, really. None of these children has a social filter. Not a single one. But the tea party resumes, with the kids chilling on the lawn eating, you guessed it, taiyaki. Osuka cries bitterly and crams her face full of snacks, vowing revenge.
Ongoing mysteries
I keep hearing the Inuzuka child is actually a girl? I can't tell if Mimi is their name or the dog's name.
Still no clue whether the kid in the aviator helmet is an Aburame or just weird. They're definitely a sassy one though.
Do the twins speak in unison because of a special jutsu, or are the writers just being lazy?
Will Eiki ever take a damn chill pill?